“Not me” attitude needs to change to common good

The Family Circus cartoon often
shows the children standing in front of Mom and saying “Not me” when she
questions them about a broken vase or toy. While we may think it is cute in the
comics, it can be frustrating to parents in real life. When adults have this attitude , it definitely is problematic.

Not only do
people wish to push the blame away from them to protect their integrity or good
name, but also to avoid responsibility.It shows up in big issues.

Several
years ago when the former ReginaHigh School was up for
sale, a group had an interest in it to make it a home for the developmentally
challenged. “That’s a good idea, but not in my neighborhood,” people said.

We live in
a time of great financial stress on all levels of government. Very few are
willing to talk about increasing taxes because the momentum is in the other
direction, irresponsible as that is. Gov. Jennifer Granholm
suggested a tax on services. “Not my services,” was heard from almost all
sectors of the service economy.

Local
school boards are trying to resolve a tremendous budget shortfall by the only
means they have available: cutting services. “Not the janitors”, some say; “not
my child’s teacher”, others say; “not my sport”, still others say. Due to the
now infamous Proposal A that shifted property taxes to the state for distribution, local school boards no longer have the option
of raising taxes for operation.

The epitome
of the “not me” attitude is fighting a war with borrowed money instead of
taxing people for it. That is bad enough, but the reality is the taxes were
actually reduced and disproportionately reduced on those who could best afford
to pay the taxes that would finance this war many of them so strongly
supported. Again, “don’t raise my taxes”, they said.

One would
think that building schools and churches are exempt from this attitude, but
they are not. When schools and churches are proposed for a certain location., neighbors have complained that they don’t want
the land used for the large parking space that would be required for a church,
or the increased traffic for either one, so once again we hear “not in my
neighborhood.”

People move
to the country to get out into the open spaces. Then they complain about the
smell from the neighboring pig farm and want the farmer to move! Or they
complain about a developer who comes along and subdivides the surrounding land.
They complain they are losing their country culture and becoming a subdivision
– exacly what they moved into the country to get away
from. And so have all the others who moved in around them. “No development in
my neighborhood”, they say.

The United
States Constitution says in its preamble that one of its purposes is to
“promote the general welfare”. Another phrase for this is “the common good”.
While there is no precise definition for this phrase, it does mean that
citizens need to have a view on issues that looks at how an issue affects the
general population, not just their own interests. It is not equivalent to
“majority rule. Rather, the common good always takes into consideration the
impact on minorities and those left out of the mainstream.

In the case
of ReginaHigh School, the concern should not have
been fear or potential loss of property values, but whether the site was
suitable for such a community home.

Taxes are
not something bad, but rather the way we provide common services, like
education, roads, police and fire protection. Michigan can’t just cancel taxes and expect
to have a vibrant place to live. Our Midland
public schools cannot operate on a deficit budget so services must be cut or
changed. The common good question is which cuts meet the best interestes of most students and the community.

Building a
home in the country invites development and common needs.

Let’s think
of issues with the common good in mind. It will make a difference.